Process of weaving in natural colors without pattern-cards.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST REGAL, OF BANJALUKA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO FRANJO HARAZIM AND ONE-THIRD TO EUGEN KARAZEJ, OF BANJALUKA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1907.

Application filed June 11. 1906- serifll 1 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that AUGUST REGAL, professor, a subject of the Emperor of Austria- Hungary, residing .at Banjaluka, Bosnia, Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Weaving in l\atural Colors Without PatternCards; and he does hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and'exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an application to the art of weavingof the process used in three color printing, for the purpose of obtaining correct woven reproductions of natural objects or pictures. For this urpose first, negatives of the three single co or artial pictures are prepared as in the t ee color printing process by photographing the article to be reproduced, the said negatives being made in red (purple red) yellow and blue (green blue) by the use of light filters and from these negatives single color partial ositives are printed, by means of the wellmown chromate process, on three plates made of insulating material (glass, porcelain, vulcanized rubber) and galvanically coated with metal. The portions of the partial ictures which have not been exposed to ight, are electrically conducting after the plates have been washed and slightly etched, the portions ex osed to light remaining covered with c omium oxid gelatin, that is to say non-conducting.

In the three-color printing process, the printing plates or blocks are covered by means of rollers, with printing inks of the three fundamental colors, and the partial pictures printed on the top of each other,

whereby a combined icture in natural colors is obtained, as t e three fundamental colors, as is well known, are sufiicient for reproducing any shades and gradations of color to be found in pictures or in nature. Apicture produced by the three color printing is constituted throughout by points, most of which show combined colors. They are those points in which the paints of two or three fundamental colors coincide, which is generally called color subtraction. To the naked eye, the multitude of colored points forms one harmonious whole, and by color addition produces the natural impression of the original from which the partial photographs were taken. In the present invention according to which a picture is to be woven from threads the combination colors cannot be produced by color covering or subtraction as the threads are not transparent. But it is possible to arrange in the warp threads of combined colors, to employ these as well as threads of the fundamental colors and to allow them to act on the spectator by color addition alone, as in a rinted three-color picture. The points of t e pictures produced by the three color printing process are replaced in the woven fabric by corresponding points of intersection and therefore the apparatus according to this invention is applied to a wire loom of well known construction.

In addition to the warp threads of the three fundamental colors, red, yellow and blue, there are also provided threads of orange, violet, green (combinations of two colors), black and white (combinations of three colors) and a pile warp is used for each color, so that altogether, in addition to the ground warp, there are eight pile warps. In accordance with the pile warps the hooks used in the loom are arranged in eight series, each of which contains as many hooks as there are pile warp threads to be woven into the fabric in the direction of its width, as each of such pile warp threads is connected to one hook. From this series of threads, the proper pile warp thread is raised at given moments for forming the upper shed. The hooks are raised by means of narrow lifting blades arranged on bars which are moved by a driving arm by means of a receiver or device operated by an electromagnet, the said bars remaining in the position corresponding to the extent of movement of the driving arm, the extent of such movement being capable of being regulated by the receiver. In order to enable all the bars with their blades to be moved, the receiver with the driving arm is moved longitudinally in front of the columns of hooks the driving arm returning again to its original position after every operation, before it acts on the next bars.

The action of the receiver is determined by the transmitter of the device, which consists of the three already described plates arranged side by side in one frame, but electrically insulated from each other. On the first plate all those points act as conductors which reproduce the portions of the total I picture, which have been photographed with the green filter, on the second plate those which have been photographed with the violet filter, and on the third plate, those which have been photographed with the orange filter, while the. remaining portions of the plates are covered with chromium oXid gelatin, that is to say, are non con ducting. On each of the plates slides a contact pin; the contact pins are provided with a common guide, but are electrically insulated from each other, and move synchronously with the receiver. Each of the three transmitter plates is connected to one pole of a source of current, the second pole of which is connected to the plate above which the receiver slides. The plate is made of insulating material and contains series of contacts which are arranged in such a manner, that the columns of contacts lie in the plane of the columns of hooks. The source of current is connected to the second, fourth, sixth series of contacts, and the contact pins of the transmitter plates to the third, fifth and seventh series of contacts. When a contact of the third series of contacts is connected by a bridge to an opposite contact of the fourth series, the source of current, in the event of the contact pin switched into the circuit touching a conducting point of the corresponding transmitter plate, sends a current through the bridge. The same thing happens when the fourth and the fifth series of contacts and the sixth and seventh series of contacts are connected together by a bridge and the corresponding contact pins touch the conducting points of the corresponding transmitter plates. The bridges are constituted by the electroinagnets of the receiver, which operate the latter with the driving arm, so that the blades should come under the corresponding hooks and raise them.

Assuming that the first contact pin is in the center of the transmitter plate carrying the red partial photograph, then the second and third contact pins are in the center of the transmitter plates for the yellow and blue partial photographs. Only the following cases are possible, (1). the center of the transmitter plate for the red partial photograph is conducting, and the central points of the two other plates are non-conducting. (2) the center of the second plate is conducting and that of the two other platesnon-conducting. (3) the center of the third plate is conducting, and that of the two other nonconducting. (4) the center of the first and second plates are conducting, and that of the third plate non-conducting. (5) the centers of the first and third plates are conducting, and that of the second non-conducting. (6) the centers of the second and third plates are conducting and that of the first non-conducting. (7) the centers of all the three plates are conducting and (8) the centers of all the three plates are non-conducting.

If, for instance, we had the first case, which means that the center of the object or picture, the partial one-color photograph of which in red is given on the first transmitter plate and which in three-color printing is rdlled with red ink, then, in order to reproduce this point, a red binding point must be produced in the fabric, that is to say, a red. pile thread must be brought into the upper shed. Owing to the contact pin coming into contact with the conducting center the circuit into which the contact pin is switched in, will be closed. The current passes from the course of current through the first transmitter plate into the first contact pin, passes through the windings of the electromagnet forming the bridge between the corresponding contact of the receiver plate and returns to the source of current. In consequence of the attraction of the electro-magnet, the mechanism operating directly the driving arm, comes in action and drives the bar in front of it carrying the blade, forward until the blade arrives under the hook with which is connected a red pile thread. The driving arm is then returned to its initial position, before the receiver arrives in front of the next column of hooks, so that the device is ready for advancing the next bar.

If for instance, we should have the case mentioned under 5, in which the centers of the red and blue plates are conducting, that would mean, that the corresponding point of the original reproduces red and blue points, that is to say, is violet. In three-color printing, such a violet point could be produced by the coincidence of red and blue colored points. In the present case, in which the coincidence of colors or color subtraction cannot be utilized for which purpose violet threads are provided in the pile warp, a violet thread must be raised into the upper shed. Owing to the contact of the first and third contact pins, the circuit is again closed, but it is now divided into two branches. One branch. current will flow, like the whole current before, through the windings of the respective electromagnet the other into the windings of a second electromagnet and back again to the source of current. Two electromagnets will therefore be simultaneously eX- cited, whereby the movement of the driving arm will take place in such a way, that the blade will be brought under a hook on which a violet upper pile warp thread is suspended, which will now be lifted into the upper shed.

In the case 7 all the three colors are operative. In three-color printing, a black point will be obtained by the coincidence of the three colored points, but in this invention a black pile warp thread is raised. In the last case, in which no contact pin establishes a conducting connection, the circuit remains broken and the electromagnets do not act. The bars remain in their normal position in which the blades are below the hooks of the first series to which are connected white pile warp threads; During the formation of the upper shed, a white pile thread will then be raised.

Having now particularly described as ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is:

The process of weaving in natural colors without jacquard-cards which consists in preparing monochrome photographic negatives from the original to be copied, preparing a positive from each negative and making the part of each positive which was eX- posed to light electrically insulative and the part of each positive which was not exposed to light electrically conductive, and then employing said positives, individually and in changing combinations with each other, as circuit-makers and -breakers in an electro-- magnetic apparatus controlling the warp se looting and actuating devices in a loom, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, he aflixes signature, in presence of two witnesses.

- AUGUST REGAL. Witnesses:

HARRY BELMONT, ALVESTO S. Hoeun. 

